Tapioca Rising
[Ghosts of Tapioca Falls, Part Five of Five]
A crowd of seventy or so townspeople gathered in the front rows of Tapioca Falls First Baptist Church. They applauded as Veronica handed the wireless microphone back to the hyper, wiry Pastor Ezekiel Tiller. His voice silenced the throng.
“My friends, we have just heard Veronica’s testimony. She escaped that spiritual attack just a few weeks ago. We all know several of our neighbors, brothers and sisters and otherwise, who weren’t so lucky. There are evil forces at work here in Tapioca Falls. If they remain un-confronted, make no mistake: our town will fall.
“We are gathered here for many reasons. Maybe you didn’t leave town because you’re not afraid. Maybe you are afraid, but answered the call to gather today anyway. Either way, it is no accident that we are joined together, representing pastors and congregants from all the churches in the community.
“The Spirit told me this confrontation was coming, and that we would need to intercede and fight. In fact, as we gather here today, some from this very church will be facing this evil in a physical confrontation. I hear the Lord in my spirit telling me that if we don’t pray and fight in the spiritual realm here as a unified church, then evil will prevail in this town. We cannot let that happen.
“Now let us raise our voices in prayer. The Kingdom of God cannot be stopped by any force, great or small, natural or supernatural, understood or otherwise. Let us pray…”
~ ~ ~
One police car drove from the church building in the direction of the park. Police Captain Charles Thomas drove and beside him sat Detective Gregory Auburn. In the back seat sat Miranda McSilver and her father Hoss, whose cowboy hat pressed against the car’s ceiling. Miranda hugged her father as they rode, but the backseat was also shared by three ghosts: Jacques Mann, Sally McSilver, and Timmy Saunderson.
Now that the church was praying, they knew they couldn’t delay: If they couldn’t confront Marbas and stop his portal, everything would be lost.
They rode in silence, for nobody knew what to say. Hoss had brought two guns for Miranda and himself, so all the non-ghosts were armed, but truthfully none of them knew what danger they were approaching nor how to actually stop that danger from destroying the town. As they drew near the park’s parking lot, Greg finally spoke.
“We should probably have some kind of plan instead of just rushing in there blind. Timmy, you know more than all of us. How should we proceed?”
“I don’t know what to expect, Detective.”
“None of this makes sense,” said Hoss in his deep, southern accented voice. “Who is this Marbs anyway, what in tarnation do ghosts got to do with it?”
Captain Charlie said, “That’s true. None of this fits with known demon behavior.”
Timmy said, “Marbas is not an ordinary demon. I’ve been informed by the angel Gabriel himself. Marbas’ story begins in the place it should have ended.
“The year was 1589, Roanoke Colony. His meddling led to disaster, and he and all of his associates were to be banished to Tartarus—the section of Hell reserved for fallen angels. Nobody knows the full story, but he somehow escaped angelic custody and went rogue. Not even Lucifer kept in contact with him.
“He was sick of being a servant. He wanted power. His fantasies were fed by such works as Paradise Lost, which depicts Hell as being ruled by demons. Marbas didn’t want to go to Hell; he wanted to reign over it. He and his followers formed The Order of the Tenth Circle.
“Together, with Marbas as king, they aimed to create their own tenth circle of Hell, located here on earth. As more demons defected from Lucifer, the more powerful Marbas grew. His actions grew bolder. He began stealing spirits on their way to their afterlives—a prison of his own making, neither Heaven nor Hell. Thus began the existence of ghosts.
“The angels have been positioning themselves to take him down for decades. They’ve freed many of the trapped dead spirits, but were waiting to make their move until they could be sure they’d be able to stop him and all his minions once and for all.
“Marbas caught wind of the plan, and came up with a new scheme of his own. He figured the angels couldn’t touch The Tenth Circle if it resided in a place the angels couldn’t openly attack. That is what led him Tapioca Falls: He’s looking for a place to establish The Tenth Circle on earth in the physical world, which would make it infinitely harder for any spiritual being to attack or oppose.”
Detective Auburn cursed. “He’s literally making Hell on Earth…”
“I’m just gonna say it,” Hoss said. “That’s the absolute dumbest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say ever in my entire life.”
“Dad, Timmy’s a ghost,” Miranda said. “He knows stuff. Maybe we should listen to him.”
“I know he’s a ghost sweetheart. It just find this whole thing to be a little far-fetched.”
Timmy said, “It doesn’t matter if you believe me, as long as you’re willing to fight. Marbas will not go down easily.”
“But,” said Jacques, “we do have a plan. Sally, do you have it with you?”
“Yes, it’s in the trunk.”
“What’s in the trunk?” asked Hoss.
“You’ll see,” said Timmy.
“We’re here,” Charlie said, pulling the car into a parking spot. “We can get to the trail from here, and the waterfall is only a half-mile away from here."
“Okay ghosts,” Greg said. “What’s the plan?”
~ ~ ~
Marbas waited on top of the waterfall. In the distance, he could see Lucifer with an army of demons. If I succeed, Lucifer will have no choice but to aid me, and recognize my kingship over The Tenth Circle. He smiled, and looked at Madam Metophany’s unconscious body, which he held by her arm. She dangled over the falls.
Marbas threw Metophany down, and her body splashed where the water crashed.
“Restless ones! Prepare the gateway!”
The demons churned the water into a whirlpool, contorting Metophany’s now dead body. Because of a potion he’d given to her previously, as well as her prior pre-disposition to the supernatural due to her many demonic activities as a psychic, her spirit was stuck in her body, even though she was actually dead.
The demons used this connection to create a bridge from the spiritual realm to the physical world. The whirlpool grew in intensity, and water seemed to fall with more violence than usual.
The water near the center of the whirlpool glowed green.
A man entered the clearing and approached the pool. Marbas laughed. He leapt down to the pool’s shore to greet the visitor.
“Detective Gregory Auburn, how nice of you to join us. Are you ready to see your village’s doom?”
He dropped his gun and stared directly into Marbas’ eyes. “Actually, I came to witness yours.”
Marbas tried not to look panicked. How does the man see me? I’m supposed to be invisible.
“What’s the matter, Marbas?” asked Hoss McSilver, who stepped up beside the detective with the police captain. “Didn’t you know not to mess with the laws of psychics and whatnot?”
“Yes, we can see you,” said Charlie. “Your portal seems to be blending the spiritual realm with the physical world.”
Marbas screamed, “What do you three weaklings hope to accomplish here? I could kill you in an instant!”
Hoss cackled. “He really is stupid. Doesn’t he see ‘em?”
“We came to bring you in,” Greg said. “Marbas, you are under arrest.”
“You can’t arrest me! You have no power to capture me! How do you plan on handcuffing me? What are you gonna do, call for backup?”
“Already did,” Charlie said.
Marbas looked around and saw winged figures, glowing white, with flaming swords circling above. Angels.
“If it’s a fight they want, a fight they will get,” Marbas said. “Open the portal!”
The whirlpool’s churning intensified, and the water appeared to be draining.
“You cannot stop our crossing! You cannot stop The Tenth Circle. May as well bow to your new ruler.”
But Marbas knew something wasn’t right. He saw movement on the horizon. Lucifer and his army.
Surely they’re coming to join me. Wait…where are they going? He can’t leave! That coward cannot abandon me, not when I’m so close!
Meanwhile, more and more angels flew into formation, preparing to launch their attack. Marbas’ crusty, purple-glowing companions gathered behind him, hovering over the portal.
Marbas announced, “We are outnumbered, but we will fight! Tapioca Falls belongs to m—”
BOOM!
The pool exploded like a geyser, and Marbas turned to face it. After a moment of eruption, the flow coalesced into a stream. The water no longer fell down the falls. The water was rising.
All of his demon soldiers were launched into the sky, and angels began dispatching them one by one.
Marbas heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see another had joined the group of humans. Miranda McSilver stood beside Greg and held a painting in her arms—a picturesque landscape with a forest, river, and bridge over the river leading to a quaint cottage.
Greg said, “You are under arrest. If you want to try your luck with the heavenly host, that’s your decision. But I suggest you enter this painting. It’ll be much more painless.”
Miranda laid the painting face-up on the ground. The flaming angels converged on Marbas’ location, and he leapt into the paining, landing on the bridge.
The angels were now nowhere in sight, and Marbas seemed trapped in this three-dimensional dreamscape. He looked ahead and noticed the cottage door was opened.
Marbas entered, and the smell of freshly baked apple pie arrested him the moment he crossed the threshold. On a couch in the living room sat three ghosts: Jacques Mann, Sally McSilver, and Timmy Saunderson.
“You three…” Marbas said. “You three have caused me a lot of trouble.”
“Did you think creating a new afterlife would be easy?” asked Timmy.
“Where did this painting come from?” Marbas asked.
“We thought you’d know,” said Sally. “Somehow it wound up in my apartment, but nobody knew of its supernatural properties until very recently.”
“How recently?”
“Since Madam Metophany trapped me here and framed me for murder,” Jacques said.
“This is the end of the line,” said Timmy. “This place is connected to death, and the river outside is a backdoor to the true afterlife. Follow me to the back and I will explain.”
The four walked out the back door and Marbas could see the river. It flowed by in front of them and curved toward the front of the house, where Marbas assumed was the bridge he stood on moments ago. Out the back door was a wooden deck which extended into the river as a dock. But there were no boats.
“We will jump from the dock one-by-one, and take the river to our final destinations,” Timmy said. “Heaven is upstream. Downstream is elsewhere.”
“Where’s the boat?” Marbas asked.
“You can only swim,” Sally replied. “In the time before you entered this painting, all of the ghosts you and Madam Metophany awakened have made their jump. Those destined for heaven swam upstream. The current took the rest.”
They all stepped onto the dock and walked towards the end. As they drew near the end, Marbas noticed someone curled up on the ground, wearing a forest-green straitjacket. She was old, scarred, and haggard, but Marbas recognized her face: Madam Metophany.
“She arrived just before you did,” Jacques said. “Still can’t believe she’s dead. Said she wouldn’t jump until she saw you here and knew for sure it was all over.”
Metophany froze, then screamed, “MARBAS!” She rolled to the end of the dock, forced herself off the side, and bobbed away downstream towards the front of the painting, and her doomed fate.
“Why did she look like that?” Marbas asked.
Timmy said, “As Jacob Marley’s chains, she was weighed down by all of the destructive choices she made in life. She had no way to get to heaven on her own. Nobody does. Who’s next?”
Jacques said, “I’ll go.”
He leapt into the water and started to swim. Going against the current was difficult, and even though he wasn’t giving up, he made very little progress towards the light. Suddenly, a glowing, translucent hand appeared over the water. Jacques grabbed the hand, and it pulled him upstream and out of sight.
“I’ll go next,” Sally said. “I already said goodbye to my father and sister. I need to go home.”
She jumped in and swam upstream. When she seemed on the verge of fatigue, a hand appeared and with a wave transformed her into a mermaid. She slid effortlessly out of sight to Heaven’s light.
“It happens differently for everyone,” Timmy said. “Do you see a theme, Marbas? Without help, all are hopeless. But Christ came to save humanity, and because of his power, mankind can be reborn. With God’s power, they can go where nobody could dream of going on their own.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Do you know how foolish your plan was. You will meet your maker regardless of when. But you have no gospel to save you. Your reckoning will be well-deserved. But touching God’s treasured creations? That’s plain stupid, as Hoss would say. God’s power is stronger than this river, and much, much stronger than you.”
“Yes, I may meet my maker soon, young Timmy. But you will meet him first.”
Marbas shoved Timmy into the water.
“The Tenth Circle will start here.”
~ ~ ~
TWO WEEKS LATER
Hoss handed the painting to Sally’s oldest friend, Samantha McEnnis.
“You sure you don’t want it, Hoss? It’s a beautiful landscape.” She glanced over the picture.
“I have no use for it. Tryin’ to get rid of all Sally’s stuff, and I figured she’d want you to have it. You alright?”
“Sorry Hoss, lost my train of thought. I’ve seen this picture i don’t know how many times in Sally’s old home, but I never noticed that the cottage’s door was open. It’s like a black hole.”
“I never noticed it before either. We’ve all faced a lot of darkness the past few weeks, haven’t we?”
“Yes we have. Anyway, thanks once again. I know my Auntie Marjorie will love it! Remember, Hoss, if you need anything, I’m just a couple towns away.”
They parted ways, and nothing unusual ever happened in Tapioca Falls ever again…
[…THE END?]
